It was a tale of two halves for Notre Dame football, which ended up defeating the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field on Sunday 41-13.

On the surface, that is a comfortable win for head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish. Anyone who watched the game knows the victory masked a very bipolar performance from a team with national title aspirations.

Throughout the entire offseason, there has been a ton of hype surrounding Notre Dame, including championship predictions for Freeman and star quarterback CJ Carr, along with a tremendous Fighting Irish defense. There had also been considerable talk about reversing a pattern of slow starts that has plagued this team under Freeman, including an 0-2 start last year against Miami and Texas A&M, plus early-season losses to Northern Illinois and Marshall in previous seasons.

Despite that talking point and the understanding that Notre Dame needed to fix the problem, the Irish sat at halftime with just a 13-10 lead.

The rushing attack managed only 29 yards on 16 carries, a brutal 1.8 yards per attempt. The passing game was stagnant. Carr was not in rhythm. The defense was fine but unspectacular, and the offensive line had a ton of issues. It was not how you drew it up.

The second half tells a different story

Freeman talked at halftime about needing to establish an offensive rhythm and run the football at a much more consistent clip. Notre Dame responded.

In that response, we saw a pick-six by Colorado transfer cornerback D.J. McKinney. Running backs Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr. started making a ton more plays, and Carr found his groove.

As the Irish began to mount a comfortable lead, the defense created more pressure on Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph. The second-half version of Notre Dame looked much more like the team people expected from the onset of this game.

The offensive line looked noticeably better after Sullivan Absher was inserted into the lineup at right guard. The defense was flying around and playing with an edge. Things were clicking.

A harsh but helpful reminder

This game served as a reminder that while Notre Dame is very talented, Freeman’s group is still inexperienced in some areas and will be up and down early in the season.

The Irish are fortunate that their schedule sets up for them to peak at the right time, particularly when they travel to face the BYU Cougars and host the Miami Hurricanes on Nov. 7. Those are the matchups with the closest eyes on them, and if Notre Dame stumbles out of the gate in those games the way they did against Wisconsin, it could greatly hurt their chances against the better teams in college football.

The second half showed the promise that everyone has been talking about this offseason. Carr looked comfortable. Notre Dame ran the ball effectively. The defense was dominant. The question now for Freeman heading into the next week of the 2026 season is straightforward: how does this team recreate that second half and deliver a more consistent product across all 60 minutes?

When Notre Dame puts together a full game, the Irish will be incredibly hard to beat. They might be able to take down just about any team in the country. Sunday’s win should serve as a helpful reminder to this Fighting Irish group that they cannot overlook anyone. They cannot beat themselves.

They are a talented team, but in order to become a great one, they need to get off to faster starts, especially as the schedule gets harder.